Previous posts here at Law and the Multiverse have discussed the status of mutants under several of our nation’s anti-discrimination laws, including the applicability of constitutional protections afforded by the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the 14th amendment and statutory prot... [More]

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) this week introduced SB 222, which would establish the California Genetic Information Privacy Act.  SB 222 would prohibit the unauthorized collection, analysis, transfer or storage of an individual’s genetic information.     “I str... [More]

Yaniv Erlich, Ph.D., and his research team at the Whitehead Institute hoped to start a conversation when they published their study in Science showing that all they needed to identify nearly 50 individuals who had submitted personal genetic material for genomic studies was just a computer, an ... [More]

While predictive genetic testing holds the promise of advancing the understanding of disease, there is also great potential for the information to be misused. Currently, Canada is the only G-8 country without a policy or legislation on the use and collection of genetic information for non-resear... [More]

By all accounts, Colman Chadam is a healthy, active 11-year-old boy who fit right in at Palo Alto's Jordan Middle School as a new kid in town. Except now, school officials believe his genetic makeup means he is a health risk to some of its other students and ordered that he be moved to anot... [More]

They're called discreet DNA samples, and the Elk Grove, California, genetic-testing company easyDNA says it can handle many kinds, from toothpicks to tampons.   Blood stains from bandages and tampons? Ship them in a paper envelope for paternity, ancestry or health testing. EasyDNA also ... [More]

MADONNA reportedly has a "sterilisation team" tasked with wiping away traces of the Material Girl so fans can't steal her DNA. The music legend apparently orders workers to complete an extreme clean of all her dressing rooms on tour so that any hair, skin or saliva belonging to the 53-year-ol... [More]

California lawmakers are weighing a bill aimed at protecting their state's citizens from surreptitious genetic testing but scientists are voicing their growing concerns that, if passed, such a law would have a costly and damaging effect on research.   The bill, dubbed the Genetic Inform... [More]

California’s Senate Judiciary Committee today passed Senate Bill 1267, authored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima). The bill would establish the California Genetic Information Privacy Act. The measure now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration. Presently, there are no ... [More]

The Council for Responsible Genetics (CRG) applauds Senator Padilla for introducing SB 1267, the Genetic Information Privacy Act.  This Act is designed to protect the citizen’s of California from so-called surreptitious genetic testing or the testing of one’s DNA without t... [More]